Start date: 1 June 2002
End date: 31 October 2004
Funding programme: Exchange for Learning (X4L) programme
Project website:
http://www.sfeu.ac.uk/mapsandlearnerguides.asp
JISC theme(s): e-Learning
Introduction
This project aims to encourage the sharing and reuse of materials within UK Higher and Further Education Institutions. One major goal is to develop a tool that maps on-line learning resources already available freely on the internet (as indexed, for example, by the JISC RDN) to the Scottish Qualifications framework.
Another is to re-purpose existing learner guides which are currently available to Scottish FE staff as paper documents to support their classroom use of such online learning resources, to on-line format. From this process we will develop a reusable template for new on-line learner guides to content across the curriculum, for UK FE and HE use.
The project refines a process already started by the Scottish Further Education Unit.
The project will create a tool, which can map any content against the Scottish Further Education Curriculum. It will meet accessibility standards as, in cooperation with JISC TechDis members, it will be field tested and evaluated by users and will be freely available to the sector at the end of the project.
The tool will allow those in any sector to map content to the Scottish Qualifications Framework for Further Education. The mapping function itself can be extended to other frameworks. Presently it allows those who teach in Scottish Further Education to identify and describe resources that they have found effective as learning resources and to share this information.
The project will re-purpose existing learner guides to create these as learning objects packaged and available for export to College and University virtual learning environments, to be accessible through appropriate collections.
The process of re-purposing will be documented and evaluated. From this a system and template to create further learner guides will be created, field-tested and evaluated with HE and FE sectors. This instrument will be freely available to the community at the end of the project.
The outputs from the project will be of benefit to JISC Services and HE content providers who wish to make their content accessible to Scottish Further Education. They will enable resources from any provider in the public or private sector to be reviewed and mapped on to the curriculum.
Aims and Objectives
Aims
Encourage the sharing of evaluated web-based subject specific resources directly relevant (mapped) to the Scottish curriculum (SQA framework) to benefit Scottish FE and HE staff.
Objectives
Learner Guides:
- To create a tool (digitised Learner Guide template) that can be used by practitioners to develop Learner Guides for their students by mapping content to the Scottish FE curriculum.
- Apply evolving accessibility and interoperability standards and recommendations to the digitised Learner Guide template.
- Field test and evaluate the Learner Guide product with targeted end users and a range of VLEs and report on this methodology.
- Re-purpose existing paper-based Learner Guides into digitised Learning Guide template.
- Develop new Learner Guides created by subject specialists.
- Disseminate products by open access web resources available for use by all educational communities.
- To evaluate the Learner Guide approach as a tool for online self study.
- Produce good practice guidelines on developing and using learner guides.
Information Gateway:
- Evaluate and review current practitioner usage of the Information Gateway.
- Evaluate and report on the design with particular reference to accessibility standards.
- Where appropriate re-purpose and redesign the Information Gateway area in line with these evaluations and reviews.
- Develop a template to allow online submission of learning resource reviews.
- Write a report of the methodology used to refine the mapping tool and evaluation criteria.
Standards and Quality Assurance:
- Develop good practice guides
- Deliver workshops and dissemination events
- Evaluate a variety of pedagogical uses